


Karen Wheeler: Her great escape

by Strength_in_pain



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Angst, Dysfunctional Family, Dysfunctional Wheeler family, Gen, Good Sibling Mike Wheeler, Good Sibling Nancy Wheeler, Karen Wheeler drunk, Kinda, Light Angst, POV Karen Wheeler, Sad Karen Wheeler, Sad Mike, Sad Mike Wheeler, Sad Nancy Wheeler, Screw that, So they bought a nice house at the end of the cul de sac, and started their nuclear family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-23
Updated: 2019-03-23
Packaged: 2019-11-28 19:20:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,618
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18212507
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Strength_in_pain/pseuds/Strength_in_pain
Summary: Karen loves her children, she really really does. It’s her husband that’s causing her a lot of issues. He’s completely unsatisfying these days and Nancy had it right when she said they were never truly in love. So why was she taking this out on her kids?





	Karen Wheeler: Her great escape

**Author's Note:**

> Warnings: Mentions of depression and alcoholism. Also a parent verbally abusing her children slightly.

It started out like any other day, and that was the problem. Every single day was the same. Wake up. Wake the kids up. Make breakfast. Talk to the kids. But at this point talking to the kids and actually having a good conversation instead of an emotional outburst or a sibling war was like trying to dismantle an explosive bomb: difficult, terrifying, and exhausting. 

Karen hasn’t made it through one family meal this year without listening to one person complain, argue, or stomp off to their room in a fit. Her three-year-old daughter acted better than the others half the time. Her own husband was even worse since he didn’t do anything to help her. 

No he just sat there while she was left to patch the family together. He sat on his lazy boy while she did the laundry, made the phone calls, cooked the dinner, lunch, breakfast, cleaned the huge house they lived in, and took care of her three-year-old daughter. All she asks for is a little help with her pre-teen boy and teenage daughter. But no, he can’t even do that. 

Karen took one look at the list of chores she had for herself today and she made the decision to pour a glass of wine for breakfast. 

She’s been drinking a lot lately. She started one random evening, by treating herself to a warm bubble bath and a nice glass of champagne. It was supposed to be shared with her husband, but he wasn’t interested. Something about the Colts playing on TV and he wouldn’t miss that for the world. So Karen poured herself a glass and tried to ignore that fact that her husband inadvertently called a football game more important than her. 

Well, the men in her romance novels were better than him anyways. 

She wanted a man who, “ _sweeps her hair back from her ears; swings her above his head. Says that she is his_ _émerveillement_ _.”_

But Ted doesn’t know how to flirt with her, he never did. He’s not very good at being seductive, nor flattering. He rarely gave her a bouquet of flowers and when he did it was out of necessity. Like, a job. Make sure you get your wife flowers for Valentine’s Day. But there was no more thought behind it. No love behind it. The passionless acts made Karen want to lock herself in the bathroom and cry for hours. But she couldn’t because she had to be a mother first. 

Nancy needed her for advice with her own love life, although, she rarely talks with her mother about that. And Mike needed his mom for structure, for support. He needed her to make the nightmares go away. He needed her for comfort, something her only son seemed to be drastically lacking. When the news of Will Byers body being pulled out of the Quarry surfaced, Mike had rushed into Karen’s arms desperately craving her comfort. He cried himself to sleep, laying next to his mom all night, because he was too upset to let go. She was there for him in his time of need because Karen loved her son. She loved all her kids. 

But in her free time, she would read about the men who did give their lovers red roses out of passion. Reading romance novels became her secret pleasure. Karen preferred to soak in the novel first and then dissect the plot, and analyze the characters. But her main entertainment wasn’t in analysis, but purely the joy of being sucked into the story, riding along on the crest of a literary wave until the climax unwinds and she returns to normal life.

Ugh, normal life. After her warm relaxing bath, Karen would feel more depressed than ever. She would climb in bed next to her husband and try to talk about their relationship. But he would shrug her off by agreeing with everything she said. 

“Yes dear, we should have more date nights.”

“Of course dear, we should watch a movie together.” 

“Whatever you say about the kids is fine.”

“I think our sex life is fine how it is.” 

Really, she should be happy right? Honestly, this is every girl’s dream: find a man who agrees with everything you say. But damn, Ted agreeing to everything drove her crazy. 

She wanted the passion, the challenge, the freaking help! It was so difficult being the one calling all the shots. And if something went wrong, she was to blame. She wanted a partner to share ideas with. It’s okay if they argue a little as long as they both grow from it. 

But Ted didn’t want to argue. He liked things simple. Karen should too, right? 

For some reason, Karen wasn’t happy. She wasn’t satisfied with her relationship with her husband. So she focused on her kids. But looking after them was stressful too. 

Once Mike’s friend, Will Byers went missing, Karen put some of the blame on herself. Will was at her house before he went missing. If she was a better mother, she would have driven him home. Or if she would have realized how late it was sooner maybe her friend and son wouldn’t have had to go through hell that year. 

But she failed. She sent the boys home in the pitch black night without a second thought. Realizing there was something dangerous in Hawkins scared her. Her kids were in danger for the first time, so she wanted to keep them close. But her decision in keeping them home only made things worse. Seeing Mike and Nancy fight about Will’s disappearance because of her decision to keep them home was a slap in the face. She just felt like such a failure. 

It was around that time when she started supplementing wine for her usual glass of milk at dinner. Her kids briefly picked up on the change. Nancy had asked her about it one night when they were folding clothes together. Karen had shrugged it off, saying that it was just an extra glass to keep her awake. 

When the government came to her home, Karen felt unsafe. Something was definitely wrong in Hawkins. Too many disappearances and suspicious activities. But what does her son have to do with any of it. Karen never did get the answers she needed. All she knew was that her boy was trapped inside a school with a bunch of dead scientists surrounding him. He could have been like them. Dead. Her little boy could have died. Karen doesn’t know how he got mixed up into it, but it must have been her fault. 

But at least Mike was safe now. Will was still alive. Everything should be fine. Everything should be back to normal. But her son was more distant than ever, and even worse, he was acting out and she had no idea why. Nancy was a shell of the person she used to be, practically hiding in her room most days. But she came out in the middle of the night when Mike’s screams started. Karen has gotten used to waking up at 2am to Mike screaming in his sleep. Nancy would walk the halls until Karen came out of his bedroom and ensured her that Mike was okay. But he wasn’t. They all knew it. They just didn’t know why. 

Karen started drinking during business calls, and in the afternoon, right after lunch.

Mike continued misbehaving during the summer and fall of the next year. She couldn’t stop him. It was like her sweet baby had been replaced with a horrible juvenal delinquent, who was still sweet but threw a million tantrums. He loved his damn toys, but he stopped playing. He would lay in bed with some of his stuffed animals and cry. She didn’t know what to do. What a failure she was. And her daughter was dating Steve Harrington, no doubt having sex with him. But every time Karen brought it up, Nancy refused to talk about it. Both of her kids were keeping things from her. What a horrible parent she was.

Pretty much everywhere Karen went there was a glass of wine next to her. But today was a new low. She never had wine for breakfast before, but at this rate she thought, what the hell? 

“Good morning, Mom.” Nancy greeted on her way to the refrigerator. She pulled out the glass of milk and put it on the counter. 

“What are you doing?” She asked, noticing the glass. 

“Nothing. Why don’t you wake your brother.” Karen said, slurping a larger sip than intended. 

Nancy’s frown deepened, eyes staring accusingly at her mother. This only made Karen feel more like a failure. She tilted the whole glass back and drowned in it. 

“Mom...” Her daughter was standing uncomfortably on the other side of the counter. “Are you feeling okay?” She asked as gently as possible. 

“I’m fine.” Karen said trying to throw a smile at her, but it came out twisted. 

There were footsteps on the stairs, then, a second later Mike entered the kitchen. He went to the cupboard and pulled out a box of cereal. 

“Good morning, Michael.” Karen slurred, feeling irritated that her son didn’t acknowledge her. 

“Hey,” He said briefly, eyes still searching for his favorite box of cereal. 

“Mom, where’s Holly?” Nancy asked desperately. She sounded scared, as if she thought Karen had forgotten to take care of her this morning. 

“She’s in her bed.” Karen suddenly yelled. 

Mike flinched, turning his eyes towards his mother. Suddenly, his expression changed to the same wide-eyed shocked expression. 

“What?” Karen asked heatedly, “Do you have something to say?”

“Mom, your eyes are all red.” He whispered. 

“Mike, go get Holly.” Nancy ordered, quickly. 

“Why are you drinking wine?” He asked, ignoring his sister. 

“Because I can.” Karen replied, “Why were you in the school building the same day the dead scientist were there?”

Mike stood shell-shocked. This wasn’t his mom. She never acted like this. He was worried all of a sudden. His heart clenched in his chest at the thought of his Mom never being the sweet and comforting woman she was ever again. He longed for her loving hugs all of a sudden, which brought a single tear to run down his cheek. 

“Cry all you want, you know you have been lying and misbehaving all year. I’m absolutely sick of it.”

“Okay Mom,” Nancy said, “You really need to stop.” 

“Stop what?” She asked spinning towards Nancy, fast enough that her glass wobbled and a few drops of alcohol fell out. “Speaking the truth.”

“You’re drunk.” Nancy muttered, rushing past her and going to where Mike was. 

Her hand slipped into her brother’s and he carefully tugged him away from where he was standing. “Come on. Let’s go to school.” She said, trying to avoid a catastrophic situation.

 She knows first hand how people can say horrible things when they are drunk. She’ll never forget how hurt Steve looked the day after the Halloween Party. She must have said something awful to him. He told her, what she had said, and she couldn’t believe it. If she was sober, she never would have said it. Then again, it doesn’t mean she didn’t mean it. 

“Don’t walk away from me.” Karen roared, following them. “I’m not done.”

She grabbed Nancy roughly by the arm and pulled her back. Nancy grunted in pain, looking at Karen with those hurt eyes. Karen’s guilt was replaced by anger. 

“Maybe you should stay home today and do some fucking chores.”

“Mom.” Mike whimpered at her choice of words. That was not his mother. 

“What? What could you possibly whine about this time?” She shouted. For once in her life, Karen could finally say the things she had built up inside her for years. It felt amazing. 

“Don’t listen to her, Mike. She doesn’t know what she’s saying.” Nancy said softly, trying to comfort her little brother. 

“Maybe that’s the problem. No one around here ever listens to me.” Karen screamed, slapping her hand on the livingroom wall. 

Nancy, continued to tug Mike towards the front door, trying to fight back the stinging behind her eyes. She refused to cry right now. She had a mission, get Mike and Holly out of the house. 

"Your father and I have been very patient with you for the last few months,” Karen said, following both of her kids towards the door. “But now you are really walking on thin ice.  Especially," she spat, "With this Steve Harrington bullshit."

Nancy stopped listening, sobbing in relief that her mother was still hung up about that stupid night that she came home late, and not some stupid explanation from Steve about the time they burnt the demogorgon to a crisp. Her mother was still in the dark about everything that’s happened recently. 

“You drink too much.” Nancy threw back, without even sparing her mother a glance. She was too busy trying to get Holly. 

Mike was in front of her, right where Nancy wanted him, because he was out of direct target range but she had to keep nudging him forward because he had no idea where Nancy wanted him to go. 

Once he got upstairs, he got the general idea, and rushed into Holly’s room. Nancy was right behind him. 

“Oh I drink too much?” Karen yelled, “What about the night Jonathan brought you home? You couldn’t even walk, you were so wasted. Then I had to stay up all night taking care of your sick and sad, helpless butt.”

Nancy’s eyes were brimming with tears. “I’m taking Holly to daycare and I’ll drop Mike off at school.” 

“With what car? You don’t even have your license.” Karen shouted. 

“We’ll walk.” Nancy spat. Then she added bitterly, “Mike can bike. Like always, and maybe Steve will pick me up like he does every morning. Maybe not, since we got in a fight, but it doesn’t matter. You’re in no condition to drive me anywhere, mom. So like I said. I’ll walk.”

Karen doubled over, clutching her stomach. 

“Mom!” Mike shrieked in fear. His mother looked pale and sick. 

Nancy quickly went to her aid, and grabbed her by the arm. She guided her mom to the bathroom, and Mike followed behind in a panic. 

“Mom? Are you okay? Mom!” 

“She’s fine.” Nancy snapped at him. She immediately felt guilty when Mike flinched away from her tone, but Nancy was preoccupied with keeping her mother’s head above the toilet. 

“She doesn’t feel well. Just, go to school, Mike. Take some money out of my wallet and buy breakfast at school.” 

“But...mom...” 

“Mike. Go.” She yelled. Her little brother scurried out of the bathroom, stomping down the stairs. 

Karen finished throwing up, then sat back on her heels. Nancy lifted her Mom by the elbow and guided her to the bathroom faucet. 

“Here. Tilt your head and wash out your mouth. You’ll feel better.” Nancy whispered. 

But water wouldn’t make Karen feel better.  She gazed into the mirror with eyes barely more alive than Nancy’s and could feel no life within herself. How could she still be breathing when she felt like this?

She owed Nancy an apology. She owed all of them an apology, but Karen couldn’t get the words out. She was too mortified to speak. God, what kind of mother was she? In her mind, she decided to scrap this moment as another one of the moments she will pretend never happened. 

So she went to her bedroom, and pulled out another bottle of wine from inside her closet. Completely alone, she guzzled the bottle desperate for an escape.  


End file.
